§ Ms. QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish for each of the last five years the number of fires which have required attention by the public fire services which have been caused by cigarettes; and what proportion of fires requiring the attention of the public fire services are caused by cigarettes.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe available information relates to fires, other than minor fires, attended by local authority fire brigades. Detailed information on the source of ignition of those fires is published annually in "Fire Statistics United Kingdom" (Tables 34 and 61 of the latest issue for 1985) copies of which are in the Library. The information on accidental fires ignited by smokers materials (other than matches) is brought together in the following table.
Accidental fires where the source of ignition was reported as smokers' materials other than matches1 Number of fires Percentage2 1981 9,374 8.0 1982 10,125 8.4 1983 10,624 8.8 1984 11,541 9.1 1985 11,395 9.0 1 Mainly cigarettes, but also cigars and pipe debris. 2 Percentage of all accidental fires attended (excluding minor fires). Figures for 1986 will be available later this month.